Los Angeles and Sacramento Men Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Trafficking in Counterfeit Credit Cards

Los Angeles and Sacramento Men Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Trafficking in Counterfeit Credit Cards

FRESNO, CA—Gevorg Meroyan, 35, of Los Angeles, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to two years in prison for conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit credit cards and credit card fraud, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

On November 16, 2015, co-defendant David Manukyan, 39, of Sacramento, was sentenced by Judge O’Neill to serve one year and one day in prison.

Both defendants pleaded guilty in July 2015. According to court documents, Meroyan conspired from 2009 to 2011 to produce, use, and traffic in counterfeit credit cards from the Los Angeles area to Sacramento. In 2009, Meroyan and Manukyan were caught in Fresno with 42 counterfeit cards bearing false names and with computer and other electronic equipment that can be used to manufacture counterfeit credit cards. In 2011, Meroyan was arrested in Los Angeles after attempting to buy auto parts with a counterfeit credit card.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fresno County Sheriff, and California Highway Patrol. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew G. Morris prosecuted the case.

Meroyan was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on February 8, 2016, to begin serving his sentence. Manukyan was previously ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on January 5, 2016, to begin his sentence.